Who Knew? Back to School Fun Facts

In 2006, Colorado had 1,420 school libraries staffed by 1,652 FTE staff–817 of them endorsed school librarians. Collections included nearly 14 million print books and a total circulation of 36 million. School libraries had 14.8 million individual visits and 1.5 million group visits, underscoring the library as a place for students to study, conduct research, meet with each other, and, most importantly, learn information literacy.[1]

Sixty-two percent of college students said they would choose an electronic textbook over a new print textbook, according to a new study by Versaware.[2]

15 states (alas, not Colorado) had ‘Sales Tax Holidays’ during the month of August – periods of time with no sales tax on certain school-related items.[3]

“We expect more than 53 million students to be enrolled in the nation’s elementary and high schools this fall, and that’s even higher than the total enrollment in 1969 when the last of the baby boomers were still in school,” says Robert Bernstein of the U.S. Census Bureau.[4]

The US produced 10 billion pounds of apples in 2006. The chances are good that the apples your children present to their teachers or enjoy for lunch were grown in Washington state, which accounted for more than half of the nation’s total production.[5]

Average annual 2005 earnings of workers 18 and older with an advanced degree was $79,946. This compares with $54,689 a year for those with bachelor’s degrees, $29,448 for those with a high school diploma only and $19,915 for those without a high school diploma.[6]

13.6 million computers are available for classroom use in the nation’s 111,000 elementary and secondary schools; that comes down to 1 computer for every 4 students.[7]

The average cost before financial aid for one year of a full-time master’s degree education at a public institution in 2003-04 was $21,900 (includes tuition and fees, books and supplies, and other living expenses).[8]

The average cumulative amount borrowed for a master’s degree for those graduating in 2003-04 was $27,200.[9]

Back-to-school spending is estimated reach $17.6 billion, up from a poor showing of $13.4 billion last year, according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2006 Back-to-School Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey. Average back-to-school spending by category and family for primary and secondary school age children: [10]